Shoe-sole vulcanizing and applying apparatus.



- (No Model.)

Patentad lun 27, I899.

G. F., BUTTERFIELD.v SHOE SOLE VULGANIZING AND APPLYINGAPPARATUS.

(Application filed Oct. 5, 1898.)

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V UNITED STATES PATENT -FF CE,

GEORGE F. BUTTER FIELD, OF STONEHAM, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHOE-SOLE VULCANI ZING AND APPLYING APPARATUS.

SPEGIFICATIONfoztming part of Letters Patent No. 627,840, dated June 27, 1899.

Application filed October 5, 1898.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. BUTTER- FIELD, of Stoneham, in the county of Middle sex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe- Sole Vulcanizing and Applying Apparatus,of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide improved apparatus for applying vulcaniz- 1o able-rubber soles and heels to the bottoms of leather boots and shoes,so as to secure thereon by heat and pressure a yielding and waterproof tread-surface without injury to the leather in the process of applying and vul-. canizing the rubber.

My present invention is in the nature of improvement upon devices heretofore patented by me for this purpose under date of September 28,1886, No. 349,690, December 29, 1896,

No. 574,238, and January 4, 1898, No. 596,476, my aim being to hold the leather shoe firmly while the rubber sole is being secured to its bottom by vulcanization, and yet keep the u pper-leather sufficiently cool 'to be uninjured.

One feature of my present improvement consists of a closed steam-chamber and a movable moldplate placed thereon about as shown in the drawing illustrating my method of vulcanizing rubber soles to leather shoes 0 patented December 29, 1896, No. 574,239.

Other features of improvement include novel shoe-holding devices and novel means for pressing the lasted shoe upon the rubber in the mold, stops for limiting the movement 5 properly, and means for lowering and raising the shoe andholder by use of an elastic fluid, (preferably compressed air also, suitable swinging adjustable marginal plates or clamps for securing the marginal plates in 0 position with cold-air passages at the bearing edges also, an annular inflatable bag or cushion surrounding the lastor shoe-holder and between the shoe and its last, said cushion being inflated after insertion to retain or provide for the passage of a current of cold air or water within the shoe-body also, the shoeholder last detachable from and pivoted upon the foot of the Vertically-moving shaft and provided with adjusting-screws to raise or depress the toe portion at will.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation,

partly in section, of one of my machines. Fig.

Serial No. 692,703. or. model.)

2 is a transverse section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section of one form of my shoe-holder.

A represents a suitable frame or hollow standard provided at its upper'end with a re-. cessed head A, adapted to receive and support I the cylindrical chamber B,having the inclosed piston O, actuated by hydraulic pressure or by steam or compressed air. The cylinderB is laterally adjustable to locate it properly and is firmly fixed for use. Flexible or other pipes D convey the elastic fluid, and a fourway cook or equivalent device admits it at one side of the piston and discharges it from the other side as required. A suitable stop is provided to limit the downward stroke, such stop being shown in Fig. 1 as a yoke E, engaging a collar E, formed on or secured to the shaft or piston-rod F, protruding through the lower end of the recessed headA' and cylinder B. The overhanging frame supporting the cylinder and other parts gives the workmen unobstructed access to the vulcanizer.

Directly beneath the cylinder 13 is the steam-chamber G; with suitable inlet and outlet pipes preferablyenterin g from below and furnished with stop-cocks to control the steamcurrent. Other like pipes admit and .discharge a water-current when it is desired to cool the chamber. The top of the chamber G is flat or of other shape to conform to the bot tom of the mold-plate, and upon such top is held the mold-plate H, having in its upper surface the sole shaped or sole and heel shaped mold 7 to receive .the rubber compound to be vulcanized to the shoe-bottom, as in my three patents first herein referred to, or the vulcanized sole to he securedto the shoe-bottom by curing the interposed vulcanizable sole-layer thereon, as in my process Patent No. 57 4,239. The mold-plate H is adj ustable to-proper position beneath the piston-rod and when adj usted is held fast by bolts or clamps, so that it will remain in place when the shoe and its rubber sole are to be raised 7 therefrom.

The lower end of the piston-rod F carries a last or shoe-holder J, upon which theshoe under treatment is mounted. This holder may be an ordinary last, but is preferably a hollow metallic last having flexible pipes communicating with its interior and connected.

with a cold-water supply to keep the last cool and the shoe-upper from being overheated, as provided in my Patent No. 596,476.

In Fig. 8 the last is shown pivoted by a transverse pin K to ears at the foot of the piston-rod. Adjusting-screws 7t, threaded through a lateral projection on the foot of the shaft or rod F, bear on the top of the last to elevate or depress the toe portion thereof, and thus to adjust the shoe-holder upon the axis K.

L L represent swinging marginal plates or clamps to hold down the marginal plates, which, as shown in my two patents of December 29, 1896, fit in laterally at the inseam of the shoe and hold down the shoe by its sole edges upon the rubber in the mold 7t, preventing the rubber from escaping upwardly when expanded in vulcanizing. der my present improvement the parts L L, with their connections, may serve to hold the former marginal plates securely down, serving thus as clamps only, or they may, as here in shown, be substituted for said marginal plates and the screws and skeleton frame by which such plates were held down. In this latter case the edges of the parts L willbe shaped accurately to the contour of the shoe, each conforming to one side of it, and in either case said parts will be provided with suitable adjusting devices for moving them into and holding them in position at the side of the shoe and for drawing them down and securely holding the shoe and resisting the expansion of the rubber. vices shown include side plates M, which may be set as required by screws 'm or otherwise to bear against the tapering sides of the clamps L, andalso a powerful screw S, threaded through a cross-bar Ct of the frame and engaging a connecting-piece P, Fig. 2, at the lower part of the clamps to draw them downwardly. A cold air passage L" is formed through these clamps at their extremities, to

which compressed air is supplied through a suitable pipe L and numerous small perforations Z to deliver this air against the upperleather in jets, cooled as it expands in escaping, so as to keep the leather from injury by heat and lower the temperature in the shop.

In Fig. 3 the shoe-holder is shown reduced in size to admit between it and the leather upper of the shoe an inflatable rubber bag N of irregular annular form, tapering upwardly and having externally about the shape of the interior walls of the shoe. These walls are distended by the air-pressure, so that the leather and lining are kept cool, free from wrinkles, and from contact with the last. This bag will be in a collapsed state when introduced into the shoe with the last and will be subsequently inflated and the air confined therein by the stop-cock n.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a shoe-sole vulcanizing and applying apparatus, the closed steam-chamber G and the independent mold-plate H h adjustable The adjusting deand adapted to be securedthereon, in combination with a suitable frame and means for pressingthe leather shoe upon the rubber contained in the mold formed in said no old-plate, substantially as set forth.

2. In a shoe-sole vulcanizing and applying apparatus, the steam -chamber, the adjustable, independent moldplate thereon and suitable means applied within the shoe for pressing and firmly holding the shoe upon the rubber contained in the mold during vulcanization, in combination with swinging, marginal clamps adapted to apply downward pressure upon the upper surface of the sole edge and welt to resist the escape of rubber from the mold along such edge, substantially as set forth.

3. In a shoe-sole vulcanizing and applying apparatus,the steam-chamber, the mold-plate thereon, and means applied within the shoe for pressing it upon the rubber contained in the mold during vulcanization, in combination with swinging, lateral clamps fitting marginally along the inseam of the shoe and bearing downwardly upon the sole edge and welt and with suitable pressure devices, substantially as set forth.

4. In a shoe-sole vulcanizing and applying apparatus,the steam-chamber, the mold-plate thereon and suitable shoe-holding devices, in combination with swinging marginal clamps pivoted and actuated at a point below the steam -chamber and with lateral adjusting devices, substantially as set forth.

5. In a shoe-sole vulcanizing and applying apparatus, the frame having a chambered head, a piston therein with protruding piston-rod, and pipes for conveying the elastic fluid to and from said chamber, in combination with the steam-chamber and mold-plate thereon, and with shoe-holding devices connected to the piston-rod adapted to present the shoe over and upon the rubber contained in the mold, and thereby to firmly afiix the rubber sole to the leather shoe-bottom, substantially as set forth.

6. In a shoe-sole vulcanizing and applying apparatus, the frame having a recessed head, an adjustable chamber in said head and a piston in said chamber with downwardly-protruding piston-rod, in combination with the steam-chamber and mold-plate thereon, located beneath said piston, a shoe-holding device connected to the piston-rod and an adjustable stop limiting the downward movement of the piston, substantially as setforth.

7. In a shoe-sole vulcanizing and applying apparatus, the shoe-holder J, connected to the foot of the plunger by a transverse pivot K and provided with adj usting-screws adapted to elevate or depress the toe portion of the shoe upon said pivot, as required, substantially as set forth.

8. In a shoe-sole vulcanizing and applying apparatus, a shoeholder connected to the shaft of the pressure device and consisting of a rigid body havinga sole-shaped bottom serv- 1 upon the sole edge and Welt and formed with an air-passage and with perforations for air- 15 jets therefromagainst the leather along the bearing edges of said plates, such passages being supplied with air under pressure, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my sigzo nature'in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE F. BUTTERFIELD.

Witnesses:

A. H. SPENCER, J. I. SPENCER. 

